46.)

"What are you supposed to be?" Blossom asked.

"Um... I'm Little Red Riding Hood, duh?" Becky rolled her eyes.

"Your outfit is spandex."

"Okay, so I'm Very Adult Red Riding Hood!" Becky was a little annoyed by the criticisms. She looked incredible, and Blossom wasn't acknowledging that at all!

Lately there were some small but prominent changes in the way Blossom thought about things. Firstly, when she saw her best friend in a spandex outfit, her mind immediately went to imagining her wearing a diaper underneath. A thick, prominent diaper. The bulge would be so evident through the skin-hugging material.

The thought made her more than a little aroused. although she could never tell Becky that. Besides her own costume wasn't exactly much better; she was Slutty Velma.

"So what about your new friend?" Becky asked, making no attempt to be inconspicuous about the topic change. "Is she meeting us there, or...?"

"She had plans with another friend; horror movies and stuff."

Becky looked at her skeptically.

"No no I'm serious! I invited her, I promise! She just had plans!"

Becky looked hard at Blossom, maybe trying to find a tell or something, but ultimately she came up empty. Blossom wasn't usually the type to lie anyway; she was almost annoyingly blunt. Becky appreciated that directness.

"Fine... I guess we can go to the party together then? You'll be my date?" Becky winked and struck a pose, showing off her body clad in mostly red spandex and a small sheer cape.

"You mean, I'll be your date until you find a Big Bad Wolf who wants to huff and puff and blow in your mouth?" Blossom grinned as she put on the thick rimmed Velma glasses.

"Yeah yeah." Becky rolled her eyes again and led the way out the door. The party was on the other side of campus, at a frat house, but it was only a fifteen minute walk if they took the right paths. The sun was already down and the night was growing cold.

"Whose bright idea was it to put Halloween in October?" Becky said, shivering as she walked. The cape did nothing to protect against the wind. At least Blossom had a sweater on.

"In Australia, October is during the spring," Blossom said. "I bet Halloween there is pretty awesome. But I think it's better to be in the cold so if you're dressing up elaborately you don't overheat." Said the girl wearing about enough fabric to make a handkerchief out of.

"Do they even have Halloween in Australia?" Becky asked. "Isn't it an American thing?"

"It super isn't," Blossom laughed.

It was too cold to dawdle and the pair was quick to arrive at the party. Music blared from inside the three-story house, with dollar-store decorations all over the front lawn. The door was open and a half-dozen guys were standing on the porch drinking out of red Solo cups.

"Let me guess," Blossom said, addressing a few guys on the porch who weren't wearing costumes. "You guys are dressed as College Frat Boys?"

One of the boys laughed and another responded with:

"Nah, we're dressed as The Man Of Your Dreams, Blossom."

"Right, but you're all dressed different," Becky countered on behalf of her friend, and the same boy replied:

"We're hedging our bets."

"Smooth..."

Becky sighed and pushed past the frat boys and into the party. Blossom followed behind. They both knew the layout of parties well enough to find their way to the drinks in the kitchen. Becky got a beer from the keg, but Blossom made herself a cocktail. She didn't like needing to run to the bathroom every fifteen minutes at someone else's house.

"Oh, look at Miss Doesn't-Drink-Beer," Becky teased.

"I drink beer if I have to pay for my own alcohol," Blossom said, "but if Rho Chi Chi is footing the bill, I'm going to drink the good stuff."

Maybe Becky hadn't considered that. She looked down at her own beer, shrugged her shoulders, and took another sip before changing the subject.

"I wanna meet this girl you've been hanging out with."

"I'm sure you do," Blossom teased. Before Becky could weigh in, a boy came up to the both of them. Charlie Sullivan. He was a good dude, built like a brick house and as gentle as a two-month old puppy. His hair was dark and short and he never seemed to have a shadow of a beard.

"Brixley! Ahh, now the party can really start, huh? And... Becky, yeah?" Charlie wasn't great with names, but he'd had enough run ins with Blossom's best friend to hold onto that piece of information. "Having a good time?" he asked.

"Having a good time, Charlie." Blossom raised her glass in the affirmative and nodded her head. "Although these Velma Glasses suuuuuck, I can't see shit while wearing them."

Charlie laughed.

"Well that's a switch, usually Velma can't see shit when she's not wearing them, right? We're gonna do some beer pong soon if you wanna come hang out or help us set up?"

Blossom and Becky exchanged glances, each waiting for the other to decide.

"Yeah okay." Becky decided for the both of them. It was always better to participate at parties than to find a corner in which to hide.

Within half an hour, beer pong was in full swing and Blossom was two drinks in and Becky had already excused herself once to use the bathroom.

"You wanna be on my team?" Charlie asked. Blossom knew her way around drinking games, and Charlie knew Blossom. She was a sure thing.

"Absolutely! We're gonna tear ass, Charlie Sullivan."

Blossom did wish Amy was here, though. She'd team up with her, and they'd definitely win together. And then they'd both make fun of everyone waiting in line for the bathroom while they both drank beer and wet their diapers.

Amy aside, Charlie and Blossom made a great team. Not just at beer pong, but at mixing drinks and dancing and singing along to cliche Halloween songs. They made up a new game called Beer Pong Extreme, where they tried to bounce a basketball off the trampoline in the backyard into a storage bin. They helped get a girl an Uber home after she threw up on the lawn. And as the night went on and on, after Becky fell asleep on the daybed by the window, they made a great pair of kissers in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

There was somewhat of an expectation at a college party - especially one centered around a faux holiday - that when two people who've been drinking start kissing, and that kissing moves to the upstairs bedroom, that more will happen from there. Blossom was not arrogant enough to presume she was exempt from this.

And besides, Charlie was hot. Probably vanilla, maybe into anal? She'd figure it out as they went.

Blossom was down to her bra and panties. She had a handful of drinks in her. Charlie was also a little drunk. That's probably why he paused.

"You cool?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Blossom said with a smile.

"Not too drunk? I wanna make sure you're okay." Charlie put his hand on Blossom's cheek. Blossom giggled.

"Yeah, I'm great. Promise!"

Charlie smiled warmly. He'd been friends with Blossom for a year or so, but he never really took it to this level. He probably could have - Blossom wasn't hard to lay - but he wasn't that kind of guy. It had to feel right.

"You're amazing," he said. "There's no one I'd rather be here with."

Blossom tittered in place for a moment, her lips parted because her instinct was to reciprocate the sweet words. But when she tried to talk, the words wouldn't come out. Because...

Because... it would have been lying.

There was someone she'd rather be here with, and that someone was off watching Halloween movies without her.

"Blossom? You sure you're sober enough for this? You kinda spaced."

She blinked her eyes back to focus and bit her lip sheepishly.

Dammit…

"Hey... it's cool. You don't owe me anything." Charlie laughed a little, climbing off Blossom to give her some space. "What's up? You need some coffee or something? I'll get you a water?"

"Umm... yeah, yeah water would be great."

Blossom waited a few tense moments with her heart racing, until Charlie left the bedroom, and the moment he did she pulled out her phone and texted Amanda.

***

Just as Sophie was teaching the other Cromwell witches the chant to light the talisman, my phone buzzed. My mom had gone to bed an hour or so ago and Lin was lying sideways on my couch.

I picked up my phone instinctively. I didn't have any baby stuff or anything linked to it; I only ever used Twitter on my computer. The notification popped up.

Blossom🌸 >> Miss You

I texted back:

>>Ditto

"Who was that?" Lin asked after I put my phone down.

"Nobody," I smiled.